Being a creative, you probably know what it feels like to be in the creative flow. It’s like riding a great wave that carries you along seamlessly, from one great idea to the next. The areas of your brain responsible for creative thinking are handing out high-fives to each other in celebration but then, as the wave reaches the coast, it dissolves and everything is slow and quiet again and you feel like the next wave is far, far away. Frustration soon follows:
This is known as a creative drought and it happens to creatives in all fields of work, the most famous form being the Writer’s Block. Even the most famous, influential and most productive characters of their creative field, such as Shakespeare and Mark Twain, have experienced this state of blockage — everyone does.
In times like these, we often hope for inspiration or get frustrated that we can’t come up with great ideas anymore and oh how good it was just a few days ago when we were on top of that awesome wave. Soon we start questioning ourselves and how to solve the problem that lies ahead of us. This state can be a downwards spiral that leads to an increasingly bigger mental block.
Here’s the thing:
Inspiration is a lie, it doesn’t exist and you are not depending on it to come up with great ideas. The origin of the word ‘inspiration’ itself means divine interventions — pretty vague, right? A sudden flash of genius which no one can predict. So should we just sit around, hoping for inspiration to strike? No, because genius lies within us all the time and here are three steps you can follow which will open up your mind and change your mindset so that it keeps fueling your creativity endlessly.
- True inspiration does not exist:
“If we’re free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influence instead of running away from it.”
If you’ve read Austin Kleon’s ‘Steal Like An Artist’ you will most probably know this quote. In his entire book, which I highly recommend, he talks about how no idea is truly original and how everything has already been done. The essence being that ‘stealing’ is part of being a creative and everyone does it. And everyone should do it. So next time you feel like you’re having a creative drought, have a look at what your favorite artist is doing, his or her most recent work and sources of ‘inspiration’. Or even better: Try to discover someone new in an entirely different creative field. This way, you are feeding your creativity with new perspectives and impulses as well as sources that you can ‘steal’ from.
2. Don’t put your creativity in a room:
We tend to come up with ideas when we are in fact not focusing on the problems we need to solve, giving our subconsciousness the opportunity to get to work. This can happen anytime, anywhere.
As creatives we are expected to constantly deliver creativity as a product each and every day. For some of us this means working 40+ hours a week at a fixed location, for others it means working from wherever they like but having to acquire clients every week or month. The way we work today is constantly changing, the constant being that we have to put in hours to deliver but sitting in the office and having lots of good ideas doesn’t always happen at the same time.
We cannot point a finger at the exact factor that leads to a creative drought, the same way we cannot exactly predict how or when we come up with great ideas. The key here is to let your creative mind do its thing, whenever and wherever the situation presents itself. Don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself — yes, working in a creative field there are deadlines everywhere and we have to perform — but forcing ideas never leads to good ideas. Be prepared to follow a stream of conscience in the most unexpected situations and keep a notebook on you always — digital or analogue; in fact, go analogue.
3. Stay hungry and curious
One characteristic that is much more prominent in creatives than in other types of people is their hunger for discovery and experimentation. This can be used as a tool to develop your skillset and to make your source of creativity limitless.
Working in print design? Try compositing an object in a 3D modeling tool. Designing UI’s? Dig into coding. Working in Photoshop all day? Develop a typeface with pen and paper. You get the idea — constantly challenge your creativity in new ways and you will train your creative eye and develop a broad sense of what works and looks good and what doesn’t.
Start doing personal projects — this might seem like extra work but if you choose a project that is demanding and fun at the same time it will not feel like work at all. In fact, it will be the exact opposite and you will feel like you are balancing work and life. Personal projects are great because you are the boss and there are no deadlines. You can take all the time in the world to develop a new skill which feeds into your overall skillset as a creative. Do this and you will start noticing sources of creativity that haven’t existed in your mind before. If the result of your personal project is worth sharing then do it — a huge advantage about this is that you will receive feedback and learn from it, meet new people, grow your network and discover new opportunities.
So the next time you experience a creative drought, remind yourself not to wait for some mystical, divine force to strike but rather use the creativity that is all around and within you. Develop your skillset, don’t rely on external factors for inspiration and most importantly: Keep creating!
